


If Only We Could Dream

by ThornStone8773



Category: Kamen Rider - All Media Types, Kamen Rider Zero-One
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Father-Son Relationship, Fluff on third chapter, Gen, Hurt No Comfort, No Romance, Platonic Relationships, Tragedy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-14
Updated: 2020-03-19
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:53:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23142739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThornStone8773/pseuds/ThornStone8773
Summary: And pretended this was only a nightmare.
Relationships: Horobi & Jin (Kamen Rider Zero-One)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 18





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing.
> 
> Inspired by a line from a fic by FireBirdsDaughter.

It was over.

Jin collapsed on his knees, joy bubbled out of his damaged voice box in the form of distorted laughter, which drowned out by the sound of rains pounded on his armour, dents and cracks covered the once shiny surface. He lifted his head up to the cloudy skies and closed his eyes, let the raindrops fell through his broken visor and drenched his face.

Finally… after a long, tiring battle… he had won… Thouser was dead… Ark was dead… the humagears was now free, no longer had to live in fear of going berserk from a slightest provocation.

So did Horobi. Now, his father could properly reach Singularity without worried of Ark resetting him, _again_.

Where had his father gone anyway? Last time Jin saw him, Horobi was fighting against an army of Trilobites. Even though he was outnumbered, Horobi was far stronger than they were. His father losing to them was unthinkable.

Still, Jin could not help but worried.

He attempted to stand up, but almost collapsed on his face, list of damage reports flashed across his HUD, advising him not to move and conserved his energy. It seemed the toll of going against both Ark and Thouser at the same time had taken more out of him than he had thought. However, he could not simply lay here; he needed to find Horobi and made sure he was all right. He just had to rely on his armour’s life support to keep his system going for a little longer.

After several more attempts to stand up continue to end in failures, Jin decided to crawl on his belly and dragged himself through the mud toward the direction he last saw his father, giving little thought to Thouser’s mangled corpse he passed by on his way. Jin could not tell how long he had been emulating a mudfish, but the rains were beginning to stop by the time he caught a glimpse of Horobi’s familiar mismatched shoes and immediately quickened his pace, though careful not to strain his injury.

Horobi sat against a wall, with eyes closed and arms limply rested on his sides, he looked uncomfortably like a doll Jin once saw displayed on the window of an antique shop. His headband gone, exposing his broken ear modules to the elements.

Disconcertingly, the LED light on his head was dark.

The sick feeling he first felt after witnessing Ikazuchi’s death returned to his chest and magnified a thousand-fold, as quickly as possible, Jin crawled toward his father, ignored the warning on his HUD from the exertion, he forced himself to sit up in front of Horobi and checked for damages. He found none, but Jin felt no relief in the slightest.

Jin cupped Horobi’s cheeks and called his name, usually, hearing Jin’s voice was enough to grab Horobi’s attention, even when he was dying from Vulcan’s attack, but still, his father did not stir. Gently, Jin shook him and called his name again, repeatedly, each attempt became more and more desperate until the only things came out of his mouth were garbled static noises. Jin gritted his teeth, and with the last of his strength, he screamed:

‘’PAPA!’’

The familiar purple LED flickered to life before Jin’s overstrain system commenced emergency shutdown.


	2. Ending I

Jin opened his eyes to the view of the ceiling he did not recognise.

‘’Jin! You are finally awake!’’

However, he was very familiar with that voice, so he could easily guessed where his current location was, turning his head to the side, he was greeted by Zero-One’s grinning face, as always, Izu was by his side, smiling serenely at him. ‘’How long had I been unconscious?’’ He inquired.

‘’You have been unconscious for three weeks.’’ Izu replied. ‘’You had suffered from severe damages, so it took a while for Satellite Zea to repair you.’’

‘’I see.’’ He propped himself up to a sitting position on the slab he laid on and rose to his feet, Zero-One made a move to help him but with one look, Jin stopped the young CEO in his track. He did not need help thank you very much.

‘’Where is Horobi?’’ He spread his gaze around the lab once he realised his father was nowhere to be seen. The trouble look Zero-One and Izu shared with each other only helped fanning the anxiety welling up in him.

‘’Umm… uh, you see, Horobi is… ah.’’ Zero-One stuttered, scratching the back of his head awkwardly.

‘’What happened to him?’’ Jin demanded. ‘’Tell me now!’’

‘’Jin, please calm down…’’

‘’I am calm!’’

‘’Horobi is on the rooftop.’’ Vulcan’s voice came from the office.

‘’ _Fuwa-san!_ Hey! Wait! _Jin!_ ’’

He easily shrugged Zero-One’s hold on his jacket and ran out of the office and toward the staircases leading up to the rooftop, ignoring Zero-One’s plea not to go. Today was not as windy and foggy as the last time he was here, so Jin could see Horobi clearly, standing on the edge of the rooftop, staring down at the city below, the thin safety fences the only thing separating him from certain doom.

Relieved finally washed over him, the anxiety that hung over him like the sword of Damocles finally disappeared, Jin smiled and ran to his father. As he drew closer, he took noted of Horobi’s new attire; black formal suit combined with hakama over skinny legging fit Horobi as much as his old patchwork coat. Somehow, they even managed to convince his father to repair his ear modules and kept it, Horobi sure did not seem to be in a hurry to rip the things off his head.

‘’Horobi!’’ At the call of his name, Horobi turned his gaze from the city toward him, Jin’s smile widened, with all the enthusiasm of his childish-side, Jin tackled Horobi in a hug, wrapped his arms tightly around Horobi’s torso and tucked his head on his father’s shoulder, burying his face on Horobi’s black jacket. As he always did every time Jin gave him a surprise hug, Horobi stiffened in his arms, but soon, he would relax and—

— Horobi shoved him away, hard, causing Jin to stagger a few step back.

Jin looked at his father in confusion. ‘’Papa…?’’

‘’Do not touch me.’’ Horobi hissed coldly. ‘’And do not call me that, _you are not my son!_ ’’

Even his first death was not as painful as those words. Jin shook his head in denial, hoping against hope that he had misheard his father, but those painful words persistently echoed in his head, haunting him like Horobi’s first death.

‘’No… Horobi… _why?_ ’’

‘’Why you ask?’’ Horobi chuckled bitterly. ‘’I never ask to be brainwashed and became slave for over 12 years. I only made you because Ark ordered me against my will. If I ever have a choice, you will never have been born!’’ He snapped. ‘’Your existence is a mistake! Just a reminder of a past I wish I could forget!’’

‘’Please stop!’’ Jin begged. He wanted to run, to be anywhere else but here, but his feet were rooted to the spot, all he could do was pressed his palms against his ears in vain attempt to block out those awful, hurtful words.

‘’… However, I must admit I owe you for freeing me from the Ark.’’ He admitted softly yet grudgingly. ‘’So… _thank you_.’’

‘’Now, get out of my sight, I do not want to see your face ever again.’’

With that last word, Horobi left the rooftop, leaving Jin alone with shattered pieces of his heart.


	3. Ending II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Non-angsty alternative to the previous chapter ending.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Which ending was better, which ending was real, I leaved it to your discretion.

Jin opened his eyes to the view of the ceiling of Hiden secret lab.

… What was he doing here?

The last thing he remembered, he was on the rooftop with— he had no memory of going back to the office.

What had happened…?

‘’Jin?’’

Jin did not have a heart but his power core did well in emulating one, he wondered if this was what the humans meant with the phrase ‘heart skipped a beat’. The voice that not so long ago spoken harsh, hurtful words now said his name with so much warm and gentleness Jin had to wonder if perhaps he had misheard it. With no small amount of apprehension, Jin turned his head and met his father’s gaze, expected to see hatred and resentment in those eyes but all he saw was concern… together with life, and one other thing Jin had desired since his awakening: love and tenderness that was not a mere programming.

‘’Jin.’’ Horobi took one of his hands gently; Jin could only stare at Horobi, mind not able to comprehend what was going on.

‘’You said you hate me.’’ Jin blurted. His father did hate him, right? However, his action now contradicted his words on the rooftop. What was going on?

Horobi’s stare could have burned through a concrete; others would interpret it as an attempt on intimidation, but Jin had lived with him long enough to know that this was Horobi’s shock expression. ‘’What is wrong, Jin?’’ He ventured.

Jin averted his eyes from his father’s concern gaze to his chest… and noticed his attire. The patchwork coat and headband had returned in all its glory. From beneath the headband, the purple LED light glowed vibrantly. Slowly, with Horobi’s assistant, Jin propped himself up to a sitting position, then hesitantly, still with a slight fear that his father going to push him away, reached out and cupped Horobi’s face, tracing his thumb over the scars that marred the sides of his head.

‘’I—’’ He paused, finally noticing the three other people in the room. How long had they been here? He surreptitiously glanced at them, they were allies now, but he was not yet comfortable in showing his vulnerability in front of them.

‘’Leave us.’’ Horobi ordered.

‘’Do not tell me what to do.’’ Vulcan retorted. ‘’I am about to leave anyway. Come on you two, let us go grab some lunch.’’ With that, Vulcan grabbed Zero-One by his hood and dragged him out of the lab and the office, all the while ignoring Zero-One’s protest for being manhandled. Without word, after taking a bow, Izu followed serenely behind them.

‘’Now,’’ Horobi began. ‘’What is bothering you?’’

Jin stared at Horobi for a moment, then, he began explaining what happened— or what he thought happened. Horobi’s expression turned thoughtful, then, finally, he stated. ‘’I think you were having a nightmare.’’

Jin frowned at that. ‘’Humagears cannot dream.’’ He argued.

‘’No other humagears has evolve as far as you are.’’ Horobi countered. ‘’And you are always different from the others.’’ He stated with pride in his tone, fingers stroking his hairs and the side of his face affectionately.

Jin leaned close to the contact and sighed. ‘’Not fair… I am the first humagear who could dream but all I got is a nightmare.’’ He complained

‘’I am sure you will have a sweet one next time.’’ Horobi leaned down, planted a kiss on his forehead and pulled him into a hug, holding him so tightly as though not wanting to let go. ‘’ _I love you_.’’ Horobi murmured. ‘’Remember this well: you are the best thing that has ever happen in my life.’’ Jin was not used to hear so many emotions in his father’s voice; it was almost frightening.

He leaned closer into the contact, tucking his head under Horobi’s chin, arms clinging tightly to his father’s back. ‘’… You have change.’’

‘’Does it scare you?’’

‘’A little… but I do not hate it.’’

‘’Glad to know.’’ Horobi chuckled and planted another kiss on his hairs. ‘’I miss you so much.’’

Miss...? ‘’Horobi… how long had I been out?’’

‘’2 years, 3 months, 5 days, 7 hours and 68 minutes.’’

‘’What? _!’’ Jin pulled away from the hug to stare at his father, mouth agape.

‘’You overstrained your system.’’ Horobi stated matter-of-factly. ‘’Your previous body was damaged beyond repair, we have to rebuilt you a new one from scratch, one that would not compromise your Singularity, which is why it took two years.’’

‘’What happen while I was out? How much has change? How are the other humagears? Are they free?’’ If Jin were still a child, he would have jumped up and down.

Horobi smiled and stroke his hairs one more time. ‘’Let me show you.’’

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you very much for reading.
> 
> English was not my native language. I apologised for the grammars, awkward phrasings and tenses you encountered while reading this.
> 
> Please, tell me what you think.


End file.
